AROUND THE REGION

Raquel Rusing, Miss Carlsbad, was crowned the Fairest of the Fair last night.

Rusing will serve as the official hostess at the Del Mar Fair from June 13 to July 6. She now also holds the title of Miss San Diego County, and will represent the county in the Miss California contest.

Four other women also were honored in the event at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.

Thirty-four women from across the county participated in the competition.

SAN DIEGO

UCSD hosts college expo

A free College Expo will be held today at the University of California San Diego.

The expo is for families of children in sixth through 12th grade and includes information on colleges, as well as getting into college in general. The expo runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free parking and breakfast are provided.

Numerous educational and outreach organizations will be represented, including California State University San Marcos, MiraCosta College, Palomar College, the Parent Institute for Quality Education, Point Loma Nazarene University, the San Diego Community College District, the county Office of Education, San Diego State University, the South Bay Parent Advocacy Group, UCSD and the University of San Diego.

CHULA VISTA

Shopping center isn't college bound

A plan to build a shopping center on the Southwestern College campus is officially dead, two weeks after the developer announced it was abandoning the project.

The company had envisioned a collection of shops, restaurants, a college bookstore, a cultural arts center and an outdoor plaza for the 15-acre corner lot at East H Street and Otay Lakes Road.

Vestar has said community opposition is the main reason it wanted to pull out of the agreement. Residents who live near the college, as well as some college faculty, have opposed the plan for nearly a year.

Southwestern stood to gain a significant stream of revenue if the center had been built. The college would have received $225,000 annually in rent for the first three years of the deal, then $510,000 a year for 10 years. Vestar has paid the city $59,636 for costs associated with the project.

CHULA VISTA

Port, city study the bayfront plan

The San Diego Unified Port District will hold a public workshop Wednesday to discuss development of the Chula Vista bayfront.

The port and city are developing the plan for the bayfront, where the port has control of about 300 acres.

Port and city officials will provide an overview of the project during the meeting from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Bob's on the Bay, 570 Marina Parkway. A second meeting will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

SAN DIEGO

People urged to 'line the shore'

People have been called on to welcome the aircraft carrier Constellation when it returns from the Iraq war next month.

"I'm hoping people will line the shore along Shelter Island, line the shore along Harbor Island," Mayor Dick Murphy said in a news conference. "I urge citizens to attend this rally and welcome our war heroes home."

Murphy said he couldn't reveal the date of the ship's return but that it would be in early June.